Page 21 of Let the Game Begin (Kiss Me Like You Love Me #1)

I muttered a cursory “good morning” and went up to my room to grab my car keys before I needed to head to campus.

I was thinking about becoming an architect, despite firmly believing that graduating with a degree was an impossibility for someone like me.

I had given up on life. Hope was the small, bright lamp in the recesses of the soul, but mine worked only intermittently.

When it flickered off, I became more unstable and the nightmares of the past came back to me.

Though, if anyone ever asked, I would deny those nightmares even existed.

I walked back to my room, lost in these dark reflections, when my attention immediately snagged on Selene’s half-open door. I drew closer and saw her sitting on the end of her bed, trying to put her shoes on one-handed while holding a cell phone in the other.

“I can never forgive him, Mom,” she said decisively. A lock of auburn hair fell across her face and she immediately tucked it behind her ear. “Yes, I know that. I am trying to build a relationship with Matt.”

What a little liar.

She wasn’t trying to clear up anything with her father; she simply ignored him whenever she found herself sharing space with him. I knew that the state of affairs was hurting Matt quite a bit.

Selene got up from the bed and bent over to pick up her bag off the floor, giving me the opportunity to study her ass.

The tight jeans she wore showed it off to divine effect.

It was small but high and firm—the perfect size for my hands and for all those fantasies about her that I wanted to make reality.

I’d been with many women in my life, but in that moment, I must have looked like a teenage boy, drooling over an ass like I’d never seen one before. You are an idiot, I thought to myself, leaning against the doorframe. Slowly, I nudged the door open with my foot.

Selene got off the phone, turned around, and jumped.

“How long have you been there?” she demanded, annoyed, as she eyed me up and down. The way she flushed told me that Babygirl liked what she saw—more than just a little bit, too.

“Long enough to know that you’re lying to Mommy,” I teased, winking at her.

“Were you eavesdropping?” She looked at me like I was a serial killer. It was honestly adorable.

“Actually, I was checking out that cute little ass of yours, Tinkerbell,” I admitted easily. Her ocean eyes grew wide, and she blushed again. She still hadn’t gotten used to my plain speaking. She stood there, defiant, with her arms folded.

“You have a few screws loose,” she said rudely. Then, she approached me and tried to pass, but I stuck out my arm to block her way.

“Where do you think you’re going, Tigress?

” I teased her in a low tone. Selene drew herself up stiffly, and my eyes fell to her breasts, small and perky, left partially exposed by her simple camisole.

I wanted to rip it off her and suck on her skin until I left bruises.

Yes, I very much wanted to do that. Again.

“What the hell is your problem?” She stared me down. She was pretending to be mad at me, but I knew full well that my attentions did not displease her.

They never displeased any woman.

“I have this one in particular…” I grabbed her wrist and pushed her back against the doorframe. “Between my legs.” I spread myself over her like a blanket and heard her small, surprised gasp when I pressed my pelvis against hers.

I adored her innocence. She was just a girl, ignorant of the world’s dangers.

“Is there no one else available to resolve your…problem?” she asked challengingly, but she didn’t move away. We remained pressed against each other, our skin separated only by a few layers of clothing.

“I know of several available people, but the usual gets so boring. More difficult challenges, however, get me going.” I stressed the last few words, and just to really clarify the concept, I pushed my hips forward to make her feel every bit of my desire for her.

From her burning face, I deduced that I had done this quite thoroughly.

“Stop it; someone could see us.” She shoved me roughly away, and I burst into laughter at her delayed reaction. The contact between us had made her feel all the same things I did; I was sure of it.

I backed away and Selene ran off, taking all her embarrassment and her innocence with her. I hoped she’d never stop being herself—genuine in everything she did. It was what set her apart from all the rest.

Once the Tigress had vanished down the stairs, I checked my watch and saw what time it was.

I hurried to my room and grabbed my car keys before heading back downstairs.

Before I got to the front door, I spotted Selene asking Anna about Logan.

She probably needed a ride to school, but my brother had gone out the previous night and hadn’t yet returned. So luck was on my side today.

“Great, so I’m getting there on foot. I’ll have to catch the bus,” she groused before telling Anna goodbye. Then she turned, spotted me, and tried to pretend she hadn’t, but her shimmery eyes were drawn like a magnet to my smug smile.

“What are you grinning about?” she snapped at me, and I found it absolutely hilarious.

“Want a lift?” I offered kindly. Selene shot me a suspicious look. Maybe she had realized that unmotivated kindness wasn’t something I possessed?

“Thanks, but no.” Her rejection was firm and came with a rude scowl. Surrender, however, wasn’t in my wheelhouse either.

“I won’t bite, Tinkerbell. Come on,” I murmured slyly and headed out the door toward my car. Selene didn’t answer me, but I heard her footsteps following along behind me. The sky had turned leaden, and it looked like rain.

I sat down behind the wheel and watched her settle herself in the passenger seat without saying a word.

The interior of the car was instantly invaded by the smell of coconut.

I tried to focus on driving, but my eyes kept getting pulled her way.

I glanced furtively at her for the umpteenth time and caught her producing a sleepy little yawn.

“Didn’t get enough sleep?” I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel as we paused at a traffic light.

“Actually, I stayed in the living room, so no, I didn’t get very good sleep,” she grumbled irritably, watching the world outside through the window.

“Why?” I asked. I already knew why, but I liked messing with her.

“Because Jennifer was in your room, and I didn’t want to listen to her yowling,” she explained, just a hint of annoyance in her voice. It was then that I burst out laughing for real. Babygirl really was adorable.

“What’s so funny?” She cocked an eyebrow and gave me a side-eye.

“Nothing, I just think you’re genuinely funny.”

The green light appeared. I accelerated, returning my focus to the road.

“And I think you’re genuinely an asshole. It doesn’t matter a bit to you that our rooms are close together and that I can hear everything, does it?”

She was right—being generally inconsiderate was another of my many flaws. If I needed to fuck, I fucked. If I wanted to get loud, I got loud. Simple. I didn’t care about anyone’s complaints, least of all hers.

“Sex is relaxing; you should give it a try. Maybe when you’re sober,” I taunted her. It was a shame I couldn’t turn my head to watch her blush.

“I focus on other activities to relax, like reading or walking in the park. You could consider something like that, you know?” she responded, and I was reminded once again of just how different she was from the other girls I dated.

“You’re such a child,” I said, just to needle her.

“Excuse me?” She sounded surprised and perturbed.

“You’re still a girl,” I repeated, parking the car in front of campus. We had reached our destination.

“Just because I hadn’t had sex with anyone before…” She stopped herself and stared through the windshield at the students walking into the university. She struck me as pensive.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m honored to have been your first,” I admitted in a subdued tone.

Selene had ducked her head and was wringing her hands, avoiding my stare.

I got the feeling she was still guilty over having given herself to someone who was essentially a complete stranger.

I was used to sleeping with girls whose names I wouldn’t remember or even care about forgetting.

My body had no value in that way, but hers still did.

“I wasn’t trying to be insulting.” I cleared my throat, trying to smooth over some of the awkwardness that I had created.

“It doesn’t matter,” she whispered, but I knew full well that it did matter to her.

“You and Jennifer… Are you…?” she asked abruptly, probably trying to change the subject.

“Together?” I finished for her. “Nah,” I grinned, shaking my head. “I’m not the relationship type.”

“Yeah, I figured. After all, sex is like a sport for you, isn’t it?” she taunted me. I could see from the look on her face that she disapproved, but that was nothing new.

“I get the feeling that there’s a lot of suffering in your past…

” she stated with a certainty that struck me dumb.

I scratched my eyebrow with my thumb and sighed.

I never talked to anyone about my past. It was a part of me that I couldn’t let anyone but myself see.

I couldn’t show her the monster that I really was.

“And I get the feeling that you still haven’t forgiven yourself for what happened between the two of us,” I answered, shifting the focus of the conversation back on to her.

While we were talking, a few girls waved hello to me as they passed my car, and I acknowledged them with a lift of my chin but never took my attention from Selene.

Babygirl licked her lower lip and then bit it, shaking her head. “You didn’t need to say that.” She tried to get out of the car, but I immediately grabbed her by the wrist.